


Something Old, Something New

by ElioAmari



Series: Crimson Days 2021 [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Black Garden, Canon-Typical Violence, Crimson Days (Destiny), Established Relationship, F/M, Light Angst, Prompt Fic, Temporary Guardian Death (Destiny)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29627859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElioAmari/pseuds/ElioAmari
Summary: Elika and Drifter venture into the Black Garden in search of something long forgotten.
Relationships: The Drifter/Female Guardian (Destiny)
Series: Crimson Days 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2180154
Kudos: 6





	Something Old, Something New

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt fill for Crimson Days! In this one we see my OC and her boyfriend (Drifter) get into some trouble within the Black Garden. 
> 
> The prompt:
> 
> Write about a time your character formed an unlikely partnership. 
> 
> INCLUDE A PERSON: a pursuer  
> INCLUDE A PLACE: a garden  
> INCLUDE A THING: fireworks

Elika Valerys strode into the large, vacant room that was recently leased in the Annex. The firework show outside made it easy enough for the Hunter to silence her footsteps as she entered, attempting to remain unnoticed for the time being. Standing in the middle of the room was a familiar man in a blue duster, green robes, and an olive green headband. His back was facing her and his hands were balled into fists as his sides. Elika closed in on where he stood and was about to announce her presence when the man spoke.

“Hey there, hotshot.” The Drifter greeted her from over his shoulder just before the loud _boom_ of a firework echoed throughout the room. He had picked up the scent of her Light as soon as she entered the room, despite her agile footwork.

“Figured I’d find you here. Neat place. Is it yours now? Like, officially?” 

“Seems that way.” Drifter made a _tsk_ sound as he clicked his tongue against his teeth. He turned around to face Elika, revealing the fact that there was someone else in the room with them. Drifter’s Ghost, with its deep, red eye and kit-bashed shell, was floating cautiously behind its Light bearer. 

“Hi! Nice to meet you, I'm Elika." The Hunter said with a friendly wave of her hand as a flash of color filled the room from outside. She delighted in the sight of the Ghost whom she’d never met, despite having been romantically involved with Drifter for nearly half a year. 

“Don’t talk to it, it has work to do.” Drifter was gruff, almost irritated that the Ghost was even there and definitely irritated that she was talking to it. He turned back to the Ghost and started snapping his fingers impatiently, urging it to get to work. 

“Ok… Well hey, I know you’re trying to get set up here but I have a teeny, tiny thing I wanted to ask you.” Drifter stood in silence, waiting for the Hunter to continue. His Ghost had begun scanning every inch of the room for wire taps, bugs, and anything else that could be used to monitor the goings on in the room. Drifter leaned against the railing behind him, cocking his hip in a way that drew Elika’s gaze. “So… Um, I need your… _body_.”

Drifter laughed that wild, raucous laugh of his as he stood up tall and sauntered over to her. He placed his hands on her hips, pulling her flush against his broad chest, and whispered in her ear. “Don’t gotta be shy, cupcake. You know you can have my body whenever, wherever you want it.” 

“Wait, no…” Elika paused, wiping the grin off her face as she attempted to refocus on what she actually came here for. Drifter ran his tongue up the side of her bare neck, sending a shiver down her spine. “Not like that. _Maybe later_ . Look, I need your assistance. Probably shouldn’t have said body… I misspoke. You… _distracted_ me.”

Drifter sighed into a chuckle as he pulled away just enough to look at Elika. “Assistance with what?” 

“You ever been in the Black Garden?” Elika looked at him with a pleading expression. Drifter responded with a look of… well it could have been anger but she knew better. It was more akin to annoyed displeasure. 

“Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t. Somethin’ tells me I’m going in there regardless.” Drifter’s hands dropped from Elika’s hips and fell at his side. He exhaled, long and slow, as he turned back to look at his Ghost. 

“Look I know it’s a big ask but… Well my fireteam is a hot mess right now and I really need some help. I don’t have anyone else.”

“So you only want me there ‘cause you got nobody else?” Drifter turned back, a tinge of hurt hiding behind his blue eyes.

“No, no. I want you there because I _need_ you there. I just feel bad about it because I know you’re busy and I know you probably don’t have time for this…" The Awoken shifted her weight between her feet anxiously. "Look, forget I asked, I’ll be fine alone I think.” Elika turned to walk away but was halted when Drifter’s hand snapped out to grab a hold of hers. He pulled her back into him, snaking his hands under her arms and up her back. The room glowed bright for a moment as another firework exploded outside. 

“Ain’t no way I’m lettin’ you go into radiolaria land alone. I was just givin’ you a hard time, cupcake. Of course I’ll go.” Drifter leaned in to kiss her, pressing his lips against hers with a level of hunger befitting the infamous rogue Light bearer. After a moment he leaned back and asked, “What’re you goin’ in there for anyway?”

“This is gonna sound really stupid but… A gun was left behind the last time I was in there. I want it back.” 

“A gun? That’s why we’re gonna take a stroll through the Vex’s backyard?”

“Yep.”

“Alright. When’re we goin’?” Drifter pressed his forehead against Elika’s and smiled. They were a strange pair but not at all dissimilar. They were both extremely stubborn and afraid to be alone, for example. In many ways these similarities led them to thrive off one another. The unlikely partnership that had formed between them was strong and full of life, something that both of them desperately needed.

* * *

24 hours later, they found themselves deep inside the Black Garden. It had been quite the journey to get to this point but the highlight for Drifter was watching Elika unleash the Traveler’s fury on the Gate Lord. The Golden Gun shot that took it out was not only well placed and perfectly timed but it was also _sexy as hell_. 

They’d been walking through thick groves of foliage and flowers among expanses of Vex architecture for hours now, mostly in silence. The pair met little resistance once inside the Garden, probably due to the fact that they were quiet and careful but Drifter liked to assume it was because the inhabitants of the Garden were afraid. Not of him, no, but of Elika. She was a force to be reckoned with, both in and out of combat. Even he found himself intimidated by her from time to time. 

“So where was it that you lost this gun of yours?” Drifter asked, breaking the silence. 

“I never said I lost it, or that the gun was mine.” Elika responded in a hollow tone of voice. Drifter turned to look at her and noticed that she looked both terrified and heart-broken. She noticed his gaze and before he could inquire further she continued, “It was Kaiden’s gun. He lost it here… It was my fault. I just thought that if I brought it back to him, maybe he’d… Maybe he’d come back.”

“Elika…”

“I know, it’s stupid. I’m stupid. I hate it here. _I hate it so much_. He knows that. Maybe the sacrifice I'm making will be enough.”

Drifter picked up his pace and placed his body in her path, cutting the Hunter off. He didn’t say anything about her reasoning, he knew he didn’t have to. Once Elika made up her mind she followed through, even if it killed her. He did, however, have a pearl of wisdom for his partner. “Listen, this may not be the catalyst you hope it is. Kaiden may be lost somewhere beyond your reach but that ain’t your fault. I know you can't see it yet but it just ain’t.”

A glittering tear fell from Elika’s sorrowful eyes and Drifter caught it with a rough, gloved finger as it reached the curve of her jaw. She looked up sharply and caught his gaze now, forcefully pulling her eyes away from where they had been glued to the ground. “Thank you for coming with me. To answer the first part of your question, I know exactly where it is but it won't be easy to get.”

“What do ya mean?” Drifter asked with a cocked eyebrow. 

“See that big tree over there? We need to climb that and then hop onto the platform to the left of it. It should be there.”

“Doesn’t sound too bad. What’s the catch?” 

“Well, as soon as we pass through this arch,” Elika pointed at the archway about a hundred feet in front of them, “we’ll be chased by a huge Minotaur through that field. We won’t be able to kill it so we are just gonna have to run.”

“Well shit.... Should’ve told me, I’d have brought my runnin’ shoes.”

“You don’t have runnin’ shoes.” Elika laughed. She was beyond thankful that it was him who was here with her. He always managed to effortlessly lift her spirits. 

They sprinted through the open field of flowers, hand in hand, as fast as their legs would carry them. The Minotaur never let up, nearly stepping on their heels at times. When they were almost at the tree the Minotaur fired a shot at Drifter’s feet, tripping him up and throwing him to the ground. His momentum rolled him forward over his shoulder before throwing him flat on his back, effectively stunning him. Elika shouted and turned to grab Drifter’s hand again only to be punched square in the face by the giant Minotaur. The visor of her helmet shattered, slicing her face and breaking her nose, before she was picked up and thrown backwards onto the ground.

The Minotaur then put its Torch Hammer to Drifter’s head and pulled the trigger. Elika’s entire body shuttered at the sight. She’d never seen Drifter die before, she’d never even seen him use his Light. Something within her snapped as she felt his Light fade away. She tore her shattered helmet off her head, revealing her blood covered face to the Minotaur. 

An ear-piercing scream forced its way from her lungs, echoing through the Garden as the flowers surrounding her grew black. Not black like death or decay, but colorless and glittering like the vast expanse of nothingness seen in outer space. A cloud of Void swirled around her feet, pushing outwards indefinitely. It continued turning the foliage black as it extended beyond where Elika stood. The Minotaur started moving towards her to finish her off as she quickly vanished into a puff of dark purple smoke. 

"Do Vex feel pain? I sure hope so." Elika's voice came from the shadows and reverberated around the Minotaur. Her pursuer looked around, desperately attempting to find the invisible interloper, before a long, sharp blade stuck through the back of its leg. Elika then used the blade, as well as its twin which she held in her other hand, to climb the Minotaur’s gargantuan frame. As she got to its shoulders she latched on tight, positioning her feet so that her hands were free to do their job. 

“Either way, you will know pain by the time I’m done with you _motherfucker_.” Her voice sounded breathless like a whisper but it was loud and layered with something thunderous. The Hunter's Wraith form was now stronger than it had ever been before, pulsing through her body as a shadowy form of pure Light. 

The Minotaur began swinging wildly, attempting to get her off its back as she stabbed into it over and over with both of her spectral blades. Eventually the Minotaur fell to the ground in a heap of deformed metal and radiolarian ooze. Elika crouched over its remains, making sure it was good and dead before relinquishing the Void energy within her body. 

As she blinked herself back into this reality she noticed that the air in the Garden felt heavy and thick with despair. Every flower in sight was black as soot save for a small patch around Drifter’s lifeless body. Elika sprinted over to him, sliding through the odd patch of glowing, jadestone flowers around her partner - a line of them shattering into little pieces as she did so.

The Hunter couldn’t bear to look at his face, not after the Torch Hammer shot, so she squeezed her eyes shut and wept against his chest. She curled up against his body like a wounded animal, clenching her shaking fists around his robes. Rain began to fall from the sky, picking up in intensity along with Elika’s sobbing. 

It was silly, she knew he wasn’t permanently dead, but she assumed his Ghost was nowhere near close enough to him to bring him back. She’d have to pull his dead body out of the Black Garden by herself, a task that felt as insurmountable as it was emotionally painful. 

Dark clouds now loomed above the pair of Guardians, pouring rain down across the entire Garden. The tinkling noise from the rain hitting the solid jade flowers and the choked sounds of her wails were all that could be heard through the field. However, she soon felt something rather unexpected. Someone had snuck up behind her and bumped into her elbow. 

“Excuse me.” Drifter’s Ghost, its eye blue now, crept by Elika and moved towards its Guardian. Its voice was warped and gravelly as if it was speaking through an old transistor radio. 

“Oh, hey. I… I didn’t think he brought you.” Elika wiped tears away from her eyes as she spoke, wincing as the radiolarian fluid on her fists came in contact with the wounds on her face. Her Ghost, Spaghetti, was there but hidden. It was too dangerous here for him to float about freely. Drifter’s Ghost would have known this as well but apparently it didn’t care. 

“He didn’t.” The Ghost slipped underneath Drifter’s headband, pulling it off before handing it to Elika. It was black now, soaked through with his blood. Nevertheless, she held it gently in her hands. 

“Why are you doing this?” 

The Ghost paused then looked back at the Hunter. “I… Don’t like seeing you cry.”

In a flash of Light so bright that Elika had to shield her eyes with her free hand, Drifter’s dead body disappeared before a newly resurrected body appeared in its place. Elika set his old headband down as soon as she saw that he had a new one on. When the blood-soaked cloth touched the ground it turned into a jadestone snake that slithered away, leaving a trail of jade flowers in its wake. She stood up and embraced the confused man before her.

“How did… How did I…” He couldn’t quite understand why he was back until he turned his head sharply to look at his Ghost, whose eye was red once again. He tore away from Elika and held his finger up to the Ghost, seemingly prepared to lay into it before Elika grabbed his hand and turned his attention back to her. 

“I asked. Don’t blame it, please.” She lied. It was a white lie given that she would have begged it to do so anyway, but a lie nonetheless. By the time he looked back the Ghost was gone. Drifter grumbled something cruel under his breath and then looked back to Elika. His eyes softened as a hand reached up, cupping her cheek. "Your face..."

"It's fine."

“The Minotaur?”

“I killed it.”

“But you said it couldn’t be killed. That’s why we were runnin’ in the first place.”

“Grief is one hell of a catalyst for destruction.” Elika looked down at the onyx colored flowers and watched as a gust of wind blew through the field, blowing away all the black as if it were dust. In moments the fauna was back to the way it was before Drifter was killed, as was the sky. Elika looked curiously at Drifter who shook his head and started stomping away, shattering more jadestone flowers as he went.

“Let’s just get this damned gun and get the hell out of here.” He growled as he made his way towards the tree. Elika bent down to pick a jade flower before following behind him. 

After some skilled tree climbing and a minor bout of platform jumping, the two Light bearers found themselves right next to their goal. However, the gun was up on a platform that was just a little too high to reach and a little too thin to simply jump up to. Elika and Drifter put their heads together and figured that their combined height would probably make Elika just tall enough to snag the gun. So she climbed him as if he was another tree until she found herself standing atop his shoulders. 

“How the hell did this gun even get up here, anyway?” Drifter asked through a strained groan. Elika may be lithe but she was pure muscle and her boots were pressing into his pauldrons in an uncomfortable way. 

“Kaiden and I were arguing and he threw the gun at my head. I dodged out of the way and it hit something that sent it spiraling over here. It was really weird but we didn’t have time to investigate, sadly. So he lost the gun. He always held that over my head, said I should have taken the hit.” Elika stretched her hand up, running her fingers along the ledge. “Why are you so short?!”

“Oh _I’m_ short? Pretty sure I’m taller than _you_ , princess!” Drifter shouted up at the Awoken, who was indeed shorter than him.

“Stand on your toes, I’ve almost got it.” Elika strained and Drifter begrudgingly complied, pushing himself up to his toes to give a tad more height. “Got it!” Next thing he heard was the sound of the gun hitting the ground next to his feet.

It was a tattered old thing, a sidearm that had seen better days. As it lay there now, he could see it was rusted beyond belief. He was genuinely surprised it survived being thrown to the ground without turning to dust. He pushed Elika’s feet forward so that she fell into a sitting position on his shoulders as they walked away, intent on leaving this damned place with haste. As they departed the area, Drifter's Ghost appeared and transmatted the gun from the floor and into his inventory before disappearing again. 

A few hours later they found themselves back on Elika’s ship with a course laid in for the Last City. On the way there Elika confessed that she had decided to not give the gun back to Kaiden after all; at this point he was too far gone for it to matter, anyway. This gave Drifter the idea to fix it up and give it to Elika for her to use. It would be a way for him to be with her even when they weren’t together, so that she’d never feel lonesome again.

After landing they made their way to Elika's apartment in the City. Feeling defeated and exhausted she took off her armor and threw herself on the bed. Drifter took this opportunity to cook something for the two of them. After all, stomping through the Black Garden really worked up an appetite in the Light bearers. 

Drifter's Ghost appeared next to him in the kitchen, its eye blue, and nodded over to where Elika was sleeping before addressing its Guardian. "You've got more than you deserve, you know that right?" 

"I do." Drifter's jaw clenched as he stopped stirring the broth he was working on. He knew his Ghost was right. _He hated that it was always right._

"Don't fuck it up this time." Its eye turned red again before it disappeared from sight.

After they ate, Elika pulled the jadestone flower she took from the Garden out of her pocket. It had flecks of blood within it, Drifter’s blood, which almost made it more magnificent in a macabre way. When she presented it to him he gladly took it, instantly hit with a bout of inspiration.

When he presented Elika with the fixed up sidearm weeks later, she noticed a jade green snake emblem on the grip. Drifter put jade snakes on a lot of things, but this was different. She could still see the flecks of his blood on the newly formed shape. _It was perfect._

**Author's Note:**

> This ended up being a long-winded lore tab for the sidearm 'Lonesome', which my Guardian uses frequently. Now we all know how she got it!


End file.
